Digimon Adventure 03
by Datavolution
Summary: Full summary inside if this is cut off halfway...The Chosen Children, with their partners by their side have been able to defeat any and all Digimon that threatened either world, but when the enemy is human, the story is different. Can Daisuke and his tea
1. And So It Begins Again

**Digimon Adventure 03** – _The Chosen Children, with their partners by their side have been able to defeat any and all Digimon that threatened either world, but when the enemy is human, the story is different. Can Daisuke and his team-mates cope without Ken, Kari and T.K. by their side? When their foe is so much easier to destroy, can Veemon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon battle this new foe without turning into the very thing they've been destroying all along? Meanwhile, back in Japan, an old foe and some new ones appear at Hightenview Terrace. How will the so called 'old guard' manage to help? Can it be just coincidence that all the ones left are those with the power of the crests? And when the Chosen Children find themselves unable to utilise the powerful bonds they have with their Digimon, robbing them of the power to digivolve once again, how will the Chosen Children be able to defend both worlds against this evil they failed to destroy last time? Various pairings are inside, all of which are intended to be a surprise. Except perhaps Takari which is undeniable._

* * *

Tai increased his pace as he sped towards the young man dribbling the ball.

"You can do it Tai!" Matt yelled from the sidelines as Takeru and Kari got to their feet.

"Is he going to make it?" Takeru asked excitedly leaning over the fence.

"I can hardly watch!" groaned Kari, half covering her face with her hands. Tai put on a final burst of speed and dropped to the ground, sliding in front of the teen and booting the ball out of his reach towards the sidelines. Matt jumped into the air, punching the sky.

"YES!" he cried, turning to hug his brother, Takeru grinned as the whistle blew and the goalie sank to his knees in relief. The scoreboard read 1 all and the game went into penalty shootouts. Tai wiped his forehead as he stood next to the fence, watching his goalie save the first shot.

"You did great out there Tai, I knew you could do it!" Matt said, unable to keep the grin off his face. Tai grinned back and Kari flung her arms around his neck.

"I'm so proud of you, brother!" she said.

"Well done, Tai," T.K. said happily. The goalie intercepted the ball with his head a third time and fell to the ground exhausted.

"Looks like I'm up," he said, gesturing to where the coach was standing.

"Good luck, Tai," T.K said happily.

"He doesn't need luck!" Matt said happily, "That's a scandalous suggestion, Taichi Yagami is unstoppable!" Unbeknownst to them, Ken had walked up behind them.

"Careful now," Ken said softly, making Matt jump, "Their goalie is one of the best in this league. Don't get too overconfident."

"Hey, trust me," Tai said grinning. He jogged out into the goal square and lined up his shot at goal. Ken watched him size up his opponent.

"If he doesn't get at least one of these then it's all over."

"I know…" Kari said, almost biting her nails in her nervousness.

"And with that scout here today as well…" Takeru said, watching Taichi intently.

"No sweat, Tai can do this," Matt said, looking out onto the pitch. Still he couldn't keep the nervousness out of his voice entirely. Tai took his run-up and the stadium went silent. He ran up and his boot connected with the ball, sending it flying towards the net. The goalie leapt into the air and with almost superhuman reflexes just managed to connect his fingers with the ball, knocking it off to the side. Tai frowned in concentration.

"Oh, bad luck to young mister Yagami as his opponent manages to block the first goal!" boomed the speakers next to them. Matt interlaced his fingers and leant his elbows on the fence, resting his head on the platform his hands created and leaning over the edge towards the field. Tai ran up again and booted the ball towards the goal, the goalie managed to catch it easily and throw it back. Tai grunted and punched the ground, muttering to himself.

"Oh, and a careless mistake leaves him with just one chance left and it looks like the pressure is getting to him…" Tai walked backwards from where the ball was set up and stopped to tighten his shoelaces. "The pressure is really on for young mister Yagami. The premiership comes down to just this one ki-"

"Shut up!" Matt yelled upwards at the commentators' box behind him. There was some embarrassed coughing and Matt stared intently at the field. "Come on, Tai…" he whispered. Tai frowned to himself as he sized up the ball and the goalie. He looked over to where Ken, Kari, T.K. and Matt were sitting and then over to where Sora, Joe and Izzy were cheering and waving their pennants. He grinned as he saw Mimi frantically running towards their seats, a humungous mad-hatter's hat with Tai's name embroidered on it in huge characters.

"What's happened?" Mimi whispered into Sora's ear. "I'm so sorry I'm late, customs is terrible nowadays!"

"It's a penalty shootout; Tai's got one chance left…" Izzy said. "I've looked up the stats for this goalie. Besides Ken, he's one of the best in the entire country…"

"Oooh…" she said. "But Tai'll be fine. What's this after beating the Diaboromon, right?" she said, smiling. She took off her enormous hat to reveal Palmon standing on her head. Tai waved and Palmon and Mimi waved back. Tai looked back towards Matt and then smiled, winking and giving a thumbs up to him. Matt grinned back and returned the gesture. Tai looked back towards the ball and furrowed his brow as he ran forwards at an angle. At the last second he dodged to the side and the booted it with the side of his foot in the opposite angle as the goalie leapt in the wrong direction.

The ball hit the back of the net with a satisfying swishing sound and the stadium erupted in cheers. Matt yelled and the digidestined leapt onto the field, followed closely by the rest of Tai's team and then quite a few of the fans from the sidelines.

* * *

"TAI!" Matt yelled over the deafening roars, throwing his arms around the young man's neck and almost knocking to the ground. "THAT WAS BRILLIANT!" the rest of the team gathered around them and lifted Tai onto their shoulders.

"Well done!" Izzy called. "He was a very difficult opponent and you defeated him admirably!" Ken smiled faintly as he stood beside Izzy.

"Indeed, we're all proud of you," he said. Kari patted his arm, it being the only part of him she could reach as he was crowd surfed and chucked into the air. Mimi and Palmon were cheering and doing a small dance as the team, surrounded by the digidestined and the soccer fans reached the makeshift podium that had been wheeled onto the centre of the pitch. Takeru and Matt walked up to Sora and Jo.

"That was excellent!" Joe said. I understand why you always go see these," he exclaimed.

"I'm going to have no voice for my concert tomorrow and yet I don't care somehow!" Matt replied.

"Well I'll be there," Sora said, "Whether you sound like Sean Connery or not."

"It'd only be fair after going to Tai's thing with his scout to see your first performance in front of that record company guy."

"Well, I'll be sure to put on a good show for you guys then," Matt said.

"Um… I'm usually terrible at speeches, I'm hardly cut out for politics, so I'll make this as short as possible so the team and I can go and celebrate," Tai's voice came booming through the speakers as he stood in front of the microphone, "I sometimes wish that there could be two premierships because our opponents today played admirably and especially their goalie who certainly kept me on my feet, I'd really enjoy working with him someday, but truly everyone who played today is a winner." There was applause and Tai waited until it calmed down before continuing. "But if there had to be a winning team, I'm glad it's us!" There were a few laughs. 'I'd really like to thank my friends and family, and indeed all the friends and family of all the players for putting up with us as we got up early for practise and dealt with out mood swings as we went from highs to lows during the season. But certainly I'd like to give the biggest thanks to the team." There was a big cheer at this. "We've worked so hard for this, it doesn't come easy and now all that hard work and all the early mornings have paid off!" The presenter walked up to him and shook his hand before handing him the huge trophy. He raised it into the air and the rest of the team cheered as the crowd erupted in applause, Matt and Kari clapping hardest of all.

* * *

"You really were magnificent," Matt said afterwards.

"You've really got to stop saying that!" Agumon said, smiling. "You'll give him a big head!"

"Indeed," Gabumon added. "But I really enjoyed watching that, thanks for smuggling us in."

"Palmon and Mimi were certainly happy about not missing that last shot," Matt said, as Tai downed another light beer.

"Well I'm glad you all enjoyed it, buddy," he replied, "The fact that the scout from the national team was watching just was the icing on the cake."

"You certainly gave him a good performance."

"Those five saves from that goalie were excellent, though," Tai said as Matt took a sip from his cup.

"I'm glad you thought so," said a voice from behind Matt. Tai's eyes widened and he grinned.

"Hi!" he said happily.

"A stirring speech, earlier," the young man said, holding out a hand, "Yamada Tarō," he said.

"Yagami Taichi," Tai replied. "This is my friend Ishida Yamato,"

"Ah, the lead singer of Teenaged Wolves, correct?" the man replied. "I enjoyed your last concert; my younger sister dragged me along."

"Thankyou," Matt replied, "We're having a charity benefit concert tomorrow evening at the dome in town square."

"I'll be sure to drop by then," Tarō replied, sitting down and looking over at Tai. "I must congratulate you on that feint you did, it totally had me fooled."

"You're starting to sound like Yama-chan here," Tai laughed, "He's still not stopped congratulating me."

"Ah, you were the one he winked to before taking the shot, yes?"

"You're very observant, Yamada-san," Matt replied, bristling slightly at Tai's nickname for him.

"I like to think I try," the man laughed. Matt looked at the clock above the bar and his eyes widened.

"Shit, I've got that concert tomorrow…" he murmured. "I need to get to sleep and rest my voice!" He looked over at Tarō. "Do you know if any buses go near Hightenview Terrace at this time of night?

"Not that I know of…" he replied. "There's a period between midnight and four-thirty where the entire service is shut down."

"Shit…" Matt murmured. "And that record company guy is going to be there as well…"

"I'll drive you," Tai said.

"I couldn't let you do that," Matt exclaimed, "It's your party!"

"If I could digivolve into Garurumon you could ride me home," Gabumon said and then looked up at Tarō. "Oops, I forgot, I wasn't supposed to reveal myself in public." Tarō, to his credit, seemed relatively unfazed.

"You would be Gabumon, right?" he asked. "I saw that battle you had on the internet. Very intense, you did well."

"Uh… thankyou, Yamada-san," Gabumon replied, a bit taken aback.

"As it is, I'm sure that would be tiring, not to mention would result in 'revealing yourself in public', therefore I must insist that I drive you two home."

"Um…"

"It's not like if I turn out to be a dangerous psychopath Gabumon couldn't protect you," Tarō interjected.

"True," Matt replied, laughing, "but I simply can't, it would be rude."

"Not at all, I was about to leave but I thought I'd congratulate mister Yagami first."

"I live near Hightenview Terrace, it's probably miles out of your way," Matt countered.

"Not at all, in fact it's on the way," Tarō replied. Matt sighed.

"Alright then." Tai frowned.

"Make sure you rest up for the performance," Tai said. "See ya around, Yama-chan."

"Bye, Tai," Matt replied, following Tarō out to his car. The drive home was relatively uneventful and the two talked about the soccer game for a while. Matt got out of the car with Gabumon and waved goodbye as he trekked up the front steps towards the front doors of the apartment block.

"Hey, son," Hiroaki called.

"Hi dad," he replied, walking through the door.

"Party go okay?"

"Yeah, I'm going to need as much sleep as possible if I'm going to do alright tomorrow though. Could you have some pineapple juice and lemon tea waiting for me when I get up?"

"Sure thing,"

"I'm going to hit the hay. Don't wake me up before noon, kay?" Hiroaki chuckled as Matt closed the door to his room. Matt slipped off his trousers and shirt and pulled on his nightshirt, slipping beneath the covers. "I'm so going to rock their world tomorrow," he murmured before falling asleep.

* * *

"Hey," Izzy said, sitting next to Tai, "A most enjoyable party."

"Glad you think so," Tai replied, smiling. "I might turn in for the night, need a lift?"

"I'll be alright," Koushiro replied, setting up his laptop on bar. "Ken and the Ichijouji's invited me to stay at his place."

"Alright," Tai said, "See ya later." He walked up to the car with Agumon in hot pursuit and leant against his car, breathing in the cold air.

"We going yet?" Agumon asked.

"Just a second, Agumon," Tai replied. "It's the end of an era for me… I'm no longer a teenager in a week and I'm out of the little leagues, no more school, and it's just ended perfectly… I want to savour it all…" Agumon walked up to Tai and rested a clawed hand on his shin. "I'm glad I was able to share it with you, old buddy…"

"And the rest of the gang?"

"Yeah, despite how much Yama-chan gets on my nerves sometimes…" Tai smiled to himself before laughing and opening the door. "But you especially… Let's go, a whole new world awaits us now…"


	2. Whole New World Ahead

It seems like only yesterday that instead of living through the drudgery of school, coping with relationship issues, trying to prevent your overprotective older brother from killing your boyfriend for supposedly 'breaking your heart', getting to soccer practice, and then choir practice, and then picking a good birthday present for your _boyfriend's_ overprotective older brother, I was out travelling to other worlds on an almost daily basis, battling alongside good friends to determine the fate of two worlds. It is now quite a while after that. Now my brother, Tai, has replaced battling the forces of evil with battling new opponents on the soccer field. Of course, he's lost none of his trademark ferocity. His team recently won the national titles and we were all there to see it, except Daisuke, Miyako and Iori. They've gone on an exchange to Europe. Matt, and T.K. have been following his progress almost as closely as _I_ have. T.K. mostly because he's my boyfriend, and Matt… well, Tai comes to all his concerts, I guess it would be rude not to. Besides, they've been the best of friends for ages. Tai performed excellently at the finals, by the way, and the national scout was there to see it all. Things are certainly looking up. Matt's band, The Teenage Wolves are a huge hit in Okinawa and it looks like they also are in for a change of pace. Their biggest concert yet is later today, and a representative of a big record company is going to be there. T.K. and I have decided to make it a date.

The celebratory party for the soccer was so much fun. Matt left early; some guy called Tarō drove him home. I think he was the opposing goalie from the match. Tai said Matt left to rest his voice for the big concert. Tai didn't hang around too much after that, I think the sight of Izzy, drunk and trying to dance made him almost as sick as it made Ken amused. Some people never change though, Mimi and Joe dancing together was quite funny as well. You should have seen his face when Mimi just marched right up to him and demanded he dance. I don't think there's anything there, Mimi was probably just sick of being a wallflower. Joe too, because he eventually got into it. It seems chosen children and alcohol don't mix too well. You should see me laughing as I type this… I'll be sure to send you copies of the pictures when I get the camera back. Oh, I almost forgot Sora! She's going well also. She was at the match, but not at the party. I think she's still upset about the break-up with Matt, poor girl. I really don't blame her though, both of those brothers are considered quite the catch! Sora just received a letter saying she's received a scholarship to study law in London.

I think that's all for this particular update. As my father so eloquently and politely informed me, it's two in the morning, and he's got to go to work tomorrow and I've got a date in 16 hours which I need my beauty sleep for. I'll e-mail you again soon, Wallace.

Hikari 'Kari' Yagami

**Digimon Adventure 03, Episode 2 – Whole New World Ahead**

Takeru straightened his collar nervously and rang the doorbell. The door opened and the teen was met with raucous laughter that went on for quite some minutes.

"My brother thought the same," Takeru said, glancing at the hallway.

"Kari is still doing her hair," Tai said, inviting T.K. indoors. "I must say, you do look rather…" He glanced at T.K. in his suit and tie, with the bunch of Irises and his hair slicked down. "Dapper?" he tried.

"I can live with dapper," T.K. replied as the bedroom door opened and Kari stepped into the hallway.

"I certainly can live with you looking dapper," she said, walking up and planting a kiss on his cheek. T.K. went red and Tai grinned.

"I'm just joking around with you," he said, "you look fine, it was just a shock to see you like that when I'm used to seeing you in your trademark fishing cap."

"You look beautiful, by the way," T.K. added to Kari as Tai winked and gave him the thumbs up behind Kari's back, winking and making nudging motions with his elbow.

"Tai, there's a mirror right next to the door, remember," Kari said, smiling. Tai stammered and then smiled nervously.

"Well, the concert starts soon, we'll be late if we don't hurry, why don't I go get the car warmed up!" Tai said loudly, walking out the door as Kari smiled, taking the bunch of flowers that Takeru offered and hugging him.

"Well, lets go get this party started then!" she said excitedly. Her parents stood at the end of the hallway and waved as she said goodbye and walked out, linking hands with T.K. as she did so.

* * *

Matt nervously coughed as he picked up the drink bottle from the speakers.

"It'll be great!" Kyon, the drummer said, slapping him on the back, causing him to spray water all over the wall.

"Baka," he murmured, grinning slightly.

"Sorry, buddy," Kyon replied. "But you are going to slay them. The fangirls can hardly keep their hands to themselves, and now you're single again… well… they've reached new heights of obsession."

"No pressure though," laughed Koizumi, the bassist. The rhythm guitarist, Satoshi, laughed and handed him the guitar. Hirokazu, the keyboardist, sighed loudly.

"Well, no use waiting any longer, might as well face th-"

"Don't say it!" Yamato cried in anguish, "I don't think I could face that horrible pun any more." The other band members laughed and they walked onto the dark stage and took their positions in the pitch darkness. Yamato played a loud power chord on his guitar, the signal for the drummer to start. There was a crash from the symbols, a thump on the bass drum and then he settled into a steady rock rhythm as the fans started screaming and the lights snapped on as the bass and rhythm guitars joined in and Yamato raised his pick. The small microphone strapped to his cheek felt awkward but on the plus side he had full freedom of movement and expression on the stage. Moving across, and playing the crowd as his fingers worked the frets of the guitar. He spied Takeru and Kari upstairs in their seats despite the bright spotlights as he reached the end of the opening. Matt opened his mouth and began to croon the lyrics.

"You've got a boy, you've got a girl…" he sang, the lyrics slipping from his mouth easily as he lost himself in the song. He opened his eyes about half a minute later, as he walked over to the other side of the stage and grinned, watching Mimi moshing almost directly in front of him. "It may not always be that way. You can't take nothing for granted," he continued. "You've got to live life today…" he grinned as the crowd started to sing the chorus along with him. He looked around the crowd and continued to walk around the stage, singing and playing the guitar as Koizumi and Satoshi sang the backup harmony. He started to pick up the tempo for the second verse and almost lost himself in the music. He got near the end of the verse and grinned, seeing Izzy and Ken leaning nonchalantly against the side of the wall, nodding their heads in time with the music and then switching he gaze to see Joe and Sora dancing together. He raised an eyebrow at that before spotting Tai, who had totally lost control and was dancing wildly with Agumon on his shoulders with no thought for who was laughing at his antics. "But things are going to change. It won't be always that easy, sometimes you just gotta try!" he continued. The band paused for a beat before he launched into the chorus. "I turn around and I can see what's behind me, I turn back around and I can see what's ahead. And if you don't believe I've been here all along, just turn around, just turn around… I turn around and I can see what's behind me, I turn back around to face the future anew, and if you can't conceive that I'm always beside you, just turn around, just turn around." he smiled softly as they headed into the bridge. The fans screaming all the way. He practically danced his way across the stage, as they finished up the song with another rendition of the chorus and the lights dimmed.

* * *

"Rocking party," Tarō said loudly as Agumon lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Oh! Hi!" Tai shouted back, over the noise of the fans and the speakers. Agumon got to his feet a bit unsteadily and Tai helped him back up. Gabumon shook his head, glad of the reprieve from dodging people that couldn't see him down near the floor and kept almost stepping on him provided by Agumon's fall.

"Need some help there?" Tarō asked, holding out a hand to Gabumon who hesitated before grabbing Tarō's hand and being lifted onto Tarō's shoulders.

"Thankyou," Gabumon said as Tarō looked up at the stage. Yamato looked over again and looked visibly startled but Gabumon and Tai both gave him a thumbs up and Tarō grinned. Matt looked over at the band and held up two fingers. They nodded.

"Okay, one of our most popular quirks," Yamato began, "Is our bilingual nature. This next is one of our newest Japanese songs." He looked back at the band and nodded. "Which we'll follow with our big Japanese hit: _Butterfly_." The crowd cheered. "But first, here's _Target_!" somewhere above Tai, Tarō and the two digimon, T.K. and Kari looked at each other and grinned.

* * *

"This should be good," T.K. shouted over the ringing in his ears.

"Yeah, it's a great concert!" Kari replied. "Thank your brother for the tickets for me!"

"You'll be seeing him after the concert with me won't you? You can tell him yourself!"

"Oh yeah," she replied. "I really am having a wonderful night. Thankyou for taking me."

"Anytime," T.K. stammered in reply as Kari laid a hand on his arm. T.K. flushed red and looked at Kari. The crowd died down as Matt continued to talk. "You never needed a crest," he said, finally able to talk at a normal volume, "You are already the light of my life without it." Kari looked at him, wondering whether to laugh herself stupid at the corny line or kiss him for being so adorable. She decided on the latter. The band started up as their lips met gently in the midst of the screaming fans.

* * *

"We totally floored them!" Koizumi shouted some hours later, exchanging high fives with the rest of the band.

"It certainly was a large success, and my late night didn't hurt my voice like I was worrying."

"Meh, who needs a voice," Tai said, grinning as he walked into the room. "You're the latest teenage heartthrob, Yamato. They'd have screamed and flung their underwear on stage whether you sang as good as you did tonight, or as bad as Gomamon did back when we all tried our hand at karaoke to wake up that huge red frog." Matt laughed.

"For one thing, there was no flung underwear, and for another, I _do_ remember that, and I remember that you weren't too flash hot at the microphone yourself!" Satoshi laughed as Matt yodelled "I'm gonna sing a song" in his best imitation of that time. Hirokazu began to fold his keyboard stand up and help Kyon unscrew parts of the drum kit.

"It's great that we had such a success in front of that record company guy, though," he said excitedly.

"I know!" replied Kyon. "We're headed straight for the big bucks!" Matt grinned.

"Wanna help us pack up then?"

"Sure," Tai replied. "You just need these taken out to the van, right?"

"Yeah, I just need to get this radio mike back to the techies."

"Okay," Tai replied, lifting the snare drum over his shoulder and carrying a guitar case in the other hand. Matt left the room and walked up to the stage where the tech crew were still packing up.

"Uh, who do I give this to?" he asked. After getting directions, he walked back out to the hallway and upstairs to the control room. On the way back, he paused at the lobby.

"And I can't find him anywhere!" Gabumon was saying.

"Oh, I'm sure he's just packing up or something," Tarō replied.

"Half right," Matt replied, walking up to the two.

"Matt!" Gabumon said, running up to him. "That was really good! I enjoyed it a lot."

"Might I add my own congratulations?" Tarō added, nonchalantly leaning against the banister. "That was a really fun concert, and I'm sure the fangirls enjoyed themselves as well. As it is, if you want to head backstage again, you'll probably be mobbed."

"There he is!" came a shriek from down the hallway. Matt looked panicked and in one movement, grabbed Gabumon and pelted down the hallway, Tarō hot on his heels. They reached the front door of the performance hall and ran through, just as Tai's car pulled up. Kari and T.K. in the backseat.

"Need a lift?" Tai asked, grinning at Matt's exhausted face.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly. "Fangirls are more scary than being turned into a key chain!"

"What?" Tarō asked incredulously as Matt hopped in the front seat.

"I can tell you later if you hop in," Tai said, gesturing as Kari and T.K. made room.

"It's that or explain to the fangirls where I've gone," Matt added. Tarō looked behind him at the mob that was getting ever closer and wordlessly hopped in.

"Floor it!" Kari said as the car screeched out of the parking lot.

* * *

Halfway across the world, Miyako, Daisuke and Iori had just disembarked from a plane and were collecting their luggage.

"Ahh…" Daisuke sighed, plucking his suitcase from the pile, Demiveemon balancing on his head. "Two days, five stop-overs and three cases of economy class syndrome later and we're finally here in beautiful… Where _are_ we Miyako?"

"Why are you on this exchange if you don't know where you are?" she asked incredulously.

"The last time I went overseas it was on 'business' remember?" he said, tapping his nose conspiratorially. "I wanted a chance to see the world without having to battle evil every 2 minutes."

"Fair enough," Iori said. "We're in the south of France."

"Excellent!" Daisuke said, punching the air. "Isn't South France known for all those cool castles and chateaus?"

"We're not staying in a holiday villa, chateau or castle. We're billeted with a family, not a hotel company,"

"Speaking of which," Upamon interjected, "I believe that might be them now." Indeed there were a family standing over to one side with signs reading the children's names.

"Well lets go then," Miyako said, wheeling her suitcase over.

"Bonjour Madame," she began. "Ca va?"

"Tres bien, merci, et tu?"

"Tres bien Madame. Je suis Miyako,"

"Je suis Iori," Iori continued.

"Daisuke," Daisuke finished. the mother and father introduced themselves and their child as Jacqueline, Jacques and Henry and with the pleasantries over, the chosen children got in the car and were driven to their billet family's home.

"So do you speak any French at all, Dai?" Miyako asked exasperatedly.

"Not much," he replied, sheepishly grinning. Iori sighed and held his head in his hands.

"Mon Dieu…" he muttered under his breath.

* * *

"And so T.K. was able to save the day and help Patamon restore everyone from being key chains. He was such a hero," Kari teased, nudging Takeru who blushed slightly and attempted to nonchalantly look out the window.

"What a weird way of dealing with your enemies," Tarō replied, "wouldn't it have been easier to just blast you all, that way there'd be no prospect of you re-joining the fight."

"In our experience, if villains actually tried things the easy way instead of gloating for hours on end about how we are doomed, things might not have turned out the way they did."

"Well, blasting us into oblivion didn't exactly work when Apocalamon deleted us either," Matt said.

"Ah yes, I saw that from below, it was like the sky had turned into a giant television set. I remember thinking it was pretty cool at the time, of course, I didn't realise the gravity of the situation."

"Well, where to now?" Tai asked as they reached the highway back to west Odaiba from the Central Business District.

"Well, I was thinking going out for pizza would be nice," Kari said, "and since Tarō is here, you two wouldn't have to feel awkward about being two older brothers intruding on our date."

"Instead we can be two older brothers and a complete stranger intruding on your date?" Tarō asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Or you could drop us off and go somewhere else. We can take a taxi, I have enough money."

"If you could drop me off here, that'd be great," Tarō said, "as much as I enjoy the company, my older sister has been looking after our baby brother all by herself while our parents are out of town and I'd feel a bit guilty leaving it all up to her."

"Alright then," Tai said, pulling into the kerb. Tarō hopped out and waved goodbye as the car sped off into the night.

"So any preferences about this pizza?" Tai asked.

"That nice place at the other end of the street from home would be good," Kari said. "And since it's not that far away, we could walk home."

"Sounds good to me," Takeru replied. "And Matt can pick me up when you guys get back."

"Alrighty then," Tai said, turning sharply. "Heightenview Terrace it is!" They dropped off T.K. and Kari and then drove off again.

"It's only 11?" Matt said, amazed. "Feels like today lasted heaps longer. I'm so tired!"

"I know what you mean…" Tai replied. "I'm worn out!"

"Well after all that dancing," Matt said, with an amused smile on his face, "I'm not too surprised."

"You saw that?" Tai said, flushing.

"You were clearly visible from the stage, remember how surprised I was to see Gabumon on Tarō's shoulders?"

"Oh yeah," Tai replied as he pulled up outside the apartment building. "Well if you're that tired I insist that you don't attempt to drive home. You can crash in my room and T.K. can take the couch in the living room."

"If you insist," Matt replied, yawning as they reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to the apartment. Staggering exhaustedly into Tai's room they grabbed the spare mattress from under Tai's bed and dragged it out into the centre of the floor.

"Sorry about the mess," Tai said, draping his sleeping bag on the mattress and chucking Matt a spare pillow.

"No probs. I lived with T.K. for the first part of my childhood, remember?"

"Right," Tai laughed. The two got changed and into their beds and Tai flicked the switch by his bedpost, turning off the light.

* * *

_Life sure seems to be taking a new direction after the digital world, will Tai and Matt's ambitions bear fruit? And how will Davis cope being in a completely different country without knowing the language? Find out on the next Digmon: Digital Monsters_


	3. New Friends, Old Enemies

Thanks for your last e-mail. I was wondering what happened to those pictures of the time we spent in Colorado. The concert went really well. Matt and the others played really well for that record company guy everyone had a great time. My date with T.K. was great and he's currently asleep on the couch, Matt having taken the spare mattress in Tai's room leaving T.K. without transport home. We saw that Tarō guy again; he was helping Matt and Gabumon escape from the whorde of screaming fangirls so we gave him a lift. I got a message from Yolie on my D-Terminal. Apparently Davis has been going with the flow as usual and ended up with them in the South of France without any clue of how to speak the language. Typical, yet it must be nice to be able to live as carefree as that. I haven't seen Ken or Izzy today, but they were at the concert somewhere. Matt got a text message from them congratulating him while he was in the car. I took some more photos while I was there which I will endeavour to send to you next time I e-mail you. T.K. looks so adorable all dressed up like that.

Again, my father appears to have been woken up by my typing so I will finish it there. Talk to you again soon, Wallace.

Hikari 'Kari' Yagami

**Digimon Adventure 03 – New Friends, Old Enemies**

Matt awoke to the sound of snoring. Admittedly, there are more pleasant ways to wake up, but considering that previous adventures had seen him, among other things, waking up in a cave in the middle of a blizzard dressed only in his underwear and a bathrobe, waking up to realise he had been sleeping on the back of a Digimon who's armour was made of Chrome Digizoid metal and that his cheek had frozen to its hind quarters, and waking up in a sewer to the smell of Numamon, he decided that Tai's snoring, by comparison, was pretty tame. Five snores later he revised this opinion and tried to smother the brunette with his pillow.

"Argh! Get off! I'm awake!" Tai shouted, struggling valiantly against this unexpected assailant.

"Sheesh, you snore worse that Joe doing Karaoke!" Matt exclaimed, removing the pillow.

"Doesn't mean you try and kill me," Tai replied grumpily, "and I was having a nice dream too."

"As much as I hate to break up this touching scene," Kari said at the door, "Breakfast is ready."

"What is it?" Tai asked.

"Pancakes," she replied. "Make sure you get some pants on before you come to get it." She looked pointedly at Tai's teddy-bear print boxer shorts and smirked. Tai frowned and grabbed a pair of tracksuit pants from the floor.

"You need to borrow anything?" he asked.

"I'll get changed when I get home," Matt replied.

"You still haven't changed from the concert, have you," Tai asked.

"Nope," Matt replied.

"So you're still wearing the same grotty, sweaty stuff you wore all the way through that concert, with all the lights, pyrotechnics, speakers and moving across the stage."

"I see your point," Matt replied.

"At least you can't smell it," Tai replied, grimacing. "Just borrow some of my stuff and I'll put yours in with the laundry and get them to you eventually."

"Fine," Matt sighed, getting up and rummaging through the drawers, "You go down to breakfast, I'll grab something and be with you in a moment." Tai nodded and sat down at the table, smirking at T.K.'s dishevelled state.

"You look like you were dragged through a hedge backwards," Tai remarked as he grabbed two pancakes and passed them from hand to hand onto his plate.

"I swear, your cat wants to kill me!" T.K. replied.

"Lucifer is sweet!" Kari replied defensively. Tai pulled a face and showed T.K. his arm.

"See the scars? The kitty is pure evil! That's why I keep my door closed." T.K. grinned and resumed trying to straighten his hair with his hands. Matt strolled into the room, dressed in one of Tai's many T-shirts and a spare pair of tracksuit pants.

"What'd I miss?"

"Just a discussion about the antichrist in cat form," T.K. replied.

"Fair enough," Matt replied, looking around the room. Halfway through breakfast, which was conducted in almost silence, there was a high-pitched bell that sounded outside the door.

"Lucifer!" Tai exclaimed. T.K. quickly lifted his feet off the floor. Matt grinned and held out a hand and the cat in question walked over to him and hopped onto his lap and allowed him to pet her. Tai stared, gob smacked.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"He's a nice cat, aren't you Lucifer," Matt said happily as T.K. gave an unconvinced look. Tai shook his head and went back to his meal. Suddenly Takeru's watch started to beep.

"Ugh, time for school," he said disgustedly.

"I really can't be bothered going in to use the library," Tai said. "Even if my final exams are just around the corner." Matt muttered something about moderation for Music and hung his head.

"If you two want to use our shower," Tai said, "Since it would be pretty difficult to get to your home and school in time,"

"Sure," T.K. said.

"Don't use all the hot water first!" Matt shouted at his retreating back.

"I wonder how the others are coping with school in France?" Kari wondered aloud.

"Knowing Davis, he's probably creating enough havoc for the three of them."

* * *

"Look, I said I didn't know French too well. I can introduce myself and say I don't speak French," Daisuke said to a protesting Miyako.

"How do you think we're going to cope in a French school if you can't speak the language?"

"Well I can't exactly say much else except 'Voulez vou coucher avec moi' which won't stand me in good stead with the natives." Iori hung his head as a group of students, hearing him scream out 'please lie down with me' in the middle of the hallway, started giggling.

"Davis!" Miyako sighed exasperatedly.

"It's not my fault! I didn't even sign myself up for this one!" There was a long pause. "You didn't?" Yolei asked, puzzled.

"No, somehow my name got put down and my parents got a letter and the next thing I knew, I'm on an exchange program to Europe!" Davis replied. Iori perked up.

"You didn't put your name down either?" he asked.

"You were volunteered as well, Cody?" Davis replied.

"I smell a mystery!" Yolei said excitedly.

"I smell a clerical error," Iori replied.

"I smell lunch!" Davis yelled, grabbing his two companions and rushing off to the cafeteria.

* * *

It was after the end of school, and Ken and Izzy were walking down the road towards Izzy's house.

"Hey mum, I'm staying the night at Izzy's," Ken said into his mobile.

"Again?" came the surprised tone of voice on the other end of the line, "It is so nice that you have such good friends now and aren't off fighting monsters every other day."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that, mum," Ken replied, "I'll see you at home tomorrow."

"Okay honey," Mrs Ichijouji replied. Ken looked back and realised that Izzy had stopped and was staring at something some meters back. Ken rushed over to him. "What is it?" Ken said, following his gaze. His eyes widened in shock. "That… That's not possible!"

* * *

Iori, Miyako and Daisuke sat down at the table across from a French teenager.

"Salut," Miyako said. "Je suis Yolei."

"Christopher," the boy replied. "Et tus amis?"

"Davis et Cody," she replied. "Davis no parles Francais."

"Yeah, I speak English," Davis said.

"So do I," Christopher said with a grin, "pleased to meet you." They shook hands. "So I take it you're from the exchange program, no?"

"Oui," Daisuke replied. Christopher grinned and gestured.

"Well allow me to be your tour guide," he continued as they stood up from the tables. "This school can be quite daunting."

"Oh, thankyou very much!" Yolei gushed. "That's ever so kind of you!" Davis glared for a second at their retreating backs before following.

* * *

Matt collapsed on a chair outside the test room and sighed with relief.

"Thank God _that's_ over," he said loudly.

"Thank God what's over?" Tai replied, appearing at the corner of the corridor.

"My music practical assessment," he said. "It counts for thirty percent of my final grade, so I've been stressing about it quite a bit."

"Well I'm glad my exams don't start for a while, study vacation!" Tai said.

"So why are you here?" Matt asked.

"Picking you up!" he replied, "I was wondering if you want to hang out at my place considering Kari is at your apartment with your brother."

"Sure," Matt replied, "the alternative is risking walking in on something mentally scarring." Tai laughed and grabbed his arm.

"Let's go then!" he said loudly. The two walked towards the carpark when they met Sora on the way. She looked visibly startled to see them there then walked over.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Uh, hey Sora," Matt replied awkwardly.

"How have you been?" Tai asked.

"Oh, fine I guess, exams pressure and all that, you know how it is…" she waved a hand dismissively. The other two laughed awkwardly before Biyomon arrived.

"Oh, hey Biyomon!" Matt said.

"Hi Matt, Hi Tai," she replied, "Have you seen Gabumon around?"

"He's back at my apartment," he replied, "he and Agumon are exploring for some reason. They found a weak wall in my basement and have been digging for a while, I'm not sure why."

"I need his nose," Biyomon replied. "There's a very familiar scent on the air in Odiaba, but I can't place it."

"Now that you mention it, Agumon did say that before the game," Tai interjected. "You think it might be digital in origin?"

"Well I haven't noticed anything weird," Sora said. "But the soccer field and here are awfully close to Heightenview…"

"But that's closed," Tai replied, "Black Wargreymon saw to that," Tai replied.

"Well, my new apartment is a couple of blocks away," Matt said, "and Gabumon hasn't noticed anything." They pondered that for a second.

"I think we should investigate," Sora said, "If Gabumon and Agumon could help, we could solve it. Just for peace of mind."

"Right, I'll give you a lift," Tai replied, opening the door.

* * *

"So tell me again why we're digging out the foundations of Matt's apartment?" Agumon asked.

"Because I'm wondering whether we can connect your house and my house by tunnel," Gabumon replied. "I'm sure Matt, Takeru, Kari and Tai would think it useful as well."

"Fair enough," Agumon replied, "but I'm starving. Could we take a break?"

"Alright," Gabumon replied. They walked back into the apartment and began to raid the fridge. Kari and T.K. were watching a movie on the sofa and Patamon and Gatomon were sitting on their laps.

"Hey guys," Gatomon said. "How's the tunnel?"

"Long and tiresome," Agumon replied. The door opened and Tai, Matt and Sora walked in followed by Biyomon.

"You're home early," remarked T.K.

"Gatomon, can you smell something funny?" Matt asked, ignoring T.K.

"Apart from T.K.'s breath mints you mean?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"There is something familiar," Patamon agreed. "Is it the tunnel?"

"We haven't noticed anything underground," Agumon said, but yes, there's definitely something digital nearby."

"How near?" Tai asked. "Is it coming from Heightenview terrace?"

"Now that you mention it, it does seem to be coming from home," Gatomon said. There was suddenly a loud rumbled followed by a crash. The five D-terminals in the room suddenly went off. They all took out the small devices and read the message.

"It's Izzy and Ken!" Tai exclaimed.

"And it sounds like they're in trouble!" T.K. said, getting to his feet.

"With Davis, Yolei and Cody in France, there's no DNA digivolving," Kari pointed out. "Lets hope our champions are enough to beat it." They all piled into Tai's car. Kari, T.K. Agumon and Sora squashing into the back seat with Biyomon, Gatomon and Patamon on their partners' laps, Matt in the front seat with Gabumon. Tai floored the car and they raced out of Matt's street.

"It's just around the corner!" Matt shouted, they turned the corner and Tai slammed on the breaks. The car skidded to a halt and the 5 humans piled out of the car, followed by their digimon. They all looked up as Tentomon landed roughly on his back next to them.

"Are you all right?" Tai asked, scooping him up. Izzy ran towards them.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"That!" he said, pointing his finger at Ken, who looked like he was ready to square off with a very familiar figure.

"That can't be!" T.K. said. "He's dead! We saw it happen! On File Island _and_ as Kimeramon! How can Devimon still be alive?" Patamon narrowed his eyes as Kari laid a reassuring hand on Takeru's shoulder. Tai and Agumon nodded at each other and started to run towards the figure.

"You know what to do," Tai said.

"Right!" Agumon replied. "Agumon digivolve to…" there was a bright light from the digivice which suddenly faded. "…nothing apparently," Agumon finished weakly. Tai stared at his digivice in horror as Matt and Sora ran towards them.

"I can't digivolve!" Agumon exclaimed. Gabumon looked over at Ken and Wormmon.

"We can't let them fight alone! Gabumon, digivolve to…" Matt's digivice faded midway and Gabumon stopped glowing. "…nope, not happening."

"Right," Kari said. T.K. nodded.

"If they can't digivolve the normal way…" he said.

"Then we'll have to help them our way! Digi-armour, energise!"

"Gatomon, armour digivolve to…" there was a bright flash and the egg dropped uselessly to the ground. Patamon tried to digivolve as well but also failed.

"No armour evolutions either?" T.K. exclaimed.

"This is bad…" Kari said.

"Well we can't just leave Wormmon to do all the work!" Agumon said, running onto battle, Gabumon and Biyomon follwed suit while Gatomon and Patamon ran with them. Tentomon flew over to the battleground and the humans followed quickly.

"Well, foolish humans, we meet again," Devimon said while chuckling, "But it seems that I have the upper hand now."

"Not if I can help it," Tentomon replied. "Super Shocker!" the attack bounced harmlessly against his torso and the fallen angel type digimon grinned.

"Pathetic… Touch of Evil!" Tentomon went flying and Ken leapt up into the air, catching him in mid flight. The two landed roughly on the concrete and Izzy ran up to them.

"Ken!" he shouted.

"So glad to know you care," quipped Tentomon, slightly dazed. Wormmon shot a ball of webbing at Devimon who actually laughed.

"This is ludicrous. What happened to the digi-destined that I fought all those years ago? Why are you so pathetic now?"

"What are you doing to prevent them from digivolving?" demanded Tai

"Oh, that's not my doing, that's all to do with my master. He has big plans for this world,"

"We beat you once before, we can certainly do it again!" T.K. replied. Izzy scooped up Tentomon into his arms and glowered.

"We will never let you do anything to this world."

"And how is a human supposed to do that? If your digimon can't defeat me, what hope do _you_ have?" Devimon laughed again and pointed at Izzy. "I think you'll be the first to die. Touch of evil!" Ken yelled and threw himself at Izzy, knocking him to the ground and getting the full blast of Devimon's attack.

"Ken!" Izzy yelled, getting to his feet and running over to where Ken had been blasted. "But… why?" Ken got to his knees and grinned.

"It's like you told me when I first joined the digi-destined. Us genius types have to stick together." Ken's digivice glowed and a beam of light shot out, solidifying into a round disc with the crest of kindness on it.

"What on Earth," Izzy murmured. Ken stood up, as if energised by the disc. He walked back over to Devimon.

"You think a small piece of metal you don't even know how to use will stop me?" he asked, smiling maniacally.

"It doesn't matter what it does," Ken replied. "My digivice gave it to me, and that means it has a purpose, and if that purpose it to beat you, than so much the better!"

"You tell him!" Izzy interjected.

"Whatever it does, with my new powers, and you unable to digivolve, I don't see how you can think you have a chance!" Devimon reached out. "Just die already, it would be so much easier."

"No!" Ken replied angrily, "And you want to know why? Because when it comes to protecting this world, I consider it my duty to stop things like you. I know all about the darkness, and I know how to combat it!" Devimon looked unfazed by this pronouncement.

"Just because you consider it your penance, does not mean I'll let you live," Devimon replied.

"But I'm not doing it out of penance anymore," Ken replied. "I'm not fighting for myself." He looked at Tentomon and Izzy. "I have friends who I'm willing to do anything to protect, I have family who I need to keep myself alive for, and you stand in the way of that!" At this pronouncement, Ken's medallion glowed fiercely and Ken was enveloped in the glow. "Okay wormmon, I don't know what this does, but we're going to use it."

"I'm ready for anything, Ken," Wormmon replied. Devimon growled and threw up his hands to protect himself.

"Digi-medallion, activate!"

* * *

_What does this new disc do? How did Devimon reappear through what should have been a closed gate? Will Ken be able to defeat this old foe? Find out on the next Digmon: Digital Monsters._


End file.
